‘Arthur, good afternoon.’
Kelly held out her hand. Arthur shook it, acknowledging her.
‘This is Detective Sergeant Maguire, we’re here to ask you a few more questions, sorry to bother you on a Saturday, may we come in?’
Arthur opened the door wider, and they went into the large entrance hall. The decor was smart, grand even, and it gave Kelly a taste of the man’s lifestyle. It was well decked out, and surprisingly stylish and refined for a man of Arthur’s appearance. He looked awkward.
‘Is your wife at home?’ Kelly asked.
Arthur turned his head over his shoulder and shouted for Beryl, who came downstairs. She was dressed in casual clothes, and slippers, but she wore a veiled cloak of stress across her face. She sauntered over the bottom step and peered up to Fin, giving Kelly the impression that she was a woman who’d made it her life’s work to use her demure profile to further her interests.
‘To what do we owe this pleasure?’ she purred, smiling from under her eyelashes at Fin. Kelly imagined the ploy working when Beryl was thirty years younger. She was a completely different woman to the one she’d met lugging boxes at the nursing home.
They remained in the hallway, uninvited further.
‘I’m sure you’ll be aware of the current investigation into the death of Victor Walmsley that occurred on your brother’s land on Wednesday,’ Kelly said.
The couple glanced at each other. Fin remained silent and solid by her side.
‘Our enquiries have spread to include Promise Farm,’ she added.
‘Why?’ Beryl asked. Her face was open, but Kelly detected a change in the frequency of her voice. Neither expressed regret at Victor’s passing.
‘Because he was your business partner, Beryl.’
‘Shall we go into the kitchen, and I’ll make us some tea? Arthur, don’t just stand there, get the cake out of the pantry,’ Beryl ordered.
They followed her like a posse of children on a school trip. Arthur disappeared, reappearing with a plate holding a cake. Kelly and Fin sat down, and Beryl placed a kettle on the range cooker. The kitchen, like the hall, was opulent and impressive. Kelly would have loved a space like it but didn’t have the room or the funds. It was old farmhouse chic combined with modern comfort.
‘The coroner has flagged up concerns over Victor’s business,’ Kelly told them. Fin watched Arthur, who cut slices of Victoria sponge. Kelly and Fin pulled out chairs and sat down.
‘His business?’ Beryl asked.
‘Yes. We’ve been tracing some of the funerals that Victor dealt with, and it led us to the chapel on your land, where we know the funerals were held. There is paperwork for everything these days,’ Kelly smiled. Beryl turned her back and busied herself with the teapot.
‘Victor buried some of my residents. We opened the chapel to ceremonies seven years ago. It’s intimate. The residents like it,’ Beryl said.
It was a curious statement given they would be dead by the time they benefitted from the arrangement.
‘How close was your partnership with the deceased?’ Kelly asked.
Arthur vanished back into the pantry.
‘It was a business arrangement. I met Victor through Arthur when Prudence was ill. Prudence was my mother-in-law.’
‘We’re aware. I believe she spent a brief time at your nursing home.’
‘That’s correct.’
‘For end of life care?’ Kelly asked.
Beryl glanced at her husband, who had finally sat down. ‘We didn’t know that at the time, but yes, she didn’t have long. The cancer was terminal. We made her comfortable.’
‘And, forgive me, you are the chief medical professional at the facility. Are you?’
At this, Arthur looked uncomfortable.
‘Yes,’ Beryl replied.
Fin was her witness, Beryl had just admitted clinical liability for the residents in her care.
‘I have some news that might come as a shock, perhaps you’d like to sit down?’ Kelly said to her.
Beryl remained standing. ‘I’m good. You get used to shocking news in my job.’
‘As part of our inquiry into the death of Victor Walmsley, the coroner has concluded that the case must now be investigated as a murder inquiry.’ She let the news sink in.
‘Murder?’ Arthur said.
Beryl’s face turned pale, and she pulled out a chair, sitting down.
‘There’s more. Some of Victor’s paperwork registered to Dale & Sons has flagged up anomalies that the coroner isn’t happy with. He’s taken steps to investigate further.’
She waited. Fin watched. Beryl picked her hands; Arthur folded his arms angrily.
‘Victor buried my mother,’ Arthur said. His voice was laced with hostility.
Kelly nodded. ‘As well as other residents of the Morningside Nursing Home. The paperwork on some of the death certificates has been found to be incomplete or unsatisfactory.’
‘What?’ Arthur whispered. Kelly sensed an incendiary rage building up inside the man and Fin sat up straight.
‘The coroner has personally instructed an exhumation of the ground at the chapel.’
There was no sweet way to put it, and Kelly waited for the fallout, watching Arthur closely. But she didn’t expect Beryl to be quite so belligerent.
‘He can’t do that,’ she said. Her cool exterior deserted her. Her voice screeched annoyingly.
‘It’s private land,’ Arthur said, over his wife.
‘Can we stick to the facts here. I’m merely informing you of his decision. Whether it’s private land or not, the graves themselves become the jurisdiction of the coroner if the burials were themselves improper.’
‘Improper?’ Beryl snorted. ‘What the hell are you insinuating?’
Arthur flashed his wife a warning gaze.
Fin pushed his chair back.
‘Did you bring him here as your minder? What sort of people do you think we are?’ Beryl said. ‘You can’t just come in here and make demands on private property, even if you are the police.’
‘It’s a court matter now. The bodies of the deceased will be exhumed on their authority. I’m afraid if you refuse to comply, then the order will be enforced and that’s something I’m sure everybody wants to avoid.’
‘Are you threatening us? You want to dig up bodies and we’re just supposed to allow it to happen?’ Beryl’s body shook.
Kelly noted the pair’s dynamic crumbling as panic set in.
‘She’s telling us that we have no say in it,’ Arthur said to his wife calmly, then turned to Kelly. ‘When will this happen?’
‘As soon as the court order comes through. We’ll have to close the chapel and seal it off, however, the nursing home can remain open for now. But I would request that you comply with our inquiries. We’ll need to see all your paperwork on these past residents who were buried in the chapel grounds. There are nine in total, so far.’
Kelly passed Arthur a piece of paper. It detailed the names and dates of death and burials of the graves Ted wanted to exhume.
Arthur’s expression was steely still and he passed the piece of paper to his wife. Her face was thunderous, turning pink in patches. She looked as though she might combust. The woman had lost control.
‘The court is obliged to make the ground good again after the work. It is a major inconvenience, I know, but there is no point fighting it. I can see you’re upset. It’s not personal.’
‘You’ll note your mother’s name is on the list, Arthur. I’m sorry.’
Arthur pushed back his chair and it scraped along the tiled floor.
‘You can’t do this,’ Beryl repeated.
‘Do you recall any of the anomalies on the death certificates?’ Kelly asked her.
Beryl glared at her.
‘I remember Victor rushing his work, telling me he was overstretched. I regret using him, I remember that much. Who will pay for this?’
‘The state,’ Kelly said, noticing Arthur staring at her wildly.
‘And what after? Who’ll put those poor souls back? Who’ll rebury them?’
‘The coroner’s office will be in touch about those particulars. My job is only to inform you and allow you this opportunity to share any discrepancies regarding these residents’ deaths with us.’
‘Why? What is all this for?’ Arthur asked calmly.
‘I’m sorry, I can only tell you what I know which is if paperwork is filled in incorrectly, then the whole process is rendered illegal, and it’s a serious offence. The coroner wants to re-examine the deceased.’
‘Re-examine? This is outrageous. Victor took care of all the paperwork. What if you find anomalies as you put it? Whose responsibility is it if the man who put them there is dead?’
‘Beryl,’ Arthur hissed. ‘Show some respect.’
Kelly allowed them to squabble. It was useful.
‘The families… this is impossible. We can’t allow it.’
‘You’re not listening, Beryl,’ Arthur turned to his wife. ‘We have no choice.’
‘On the note of the families, we’re having some trouble tracing the relatives of the deceased and that’s where you can help us,’ Kelly said. ‘We’d like access to your files on these residents, like I said, it shouldn’t take us long. If you can prepare the paperwork for us then we can be on or way.’
‘Now?’ Arthur asked.
‘Yes please,’ Kelly replied. ‘We’ll wait.’
There was a moment’s impasse as Kelly stood her ground, not making any sign to leave. Arthur got up and left the room. Beryl glared at them, as if they were idiots. Kelly recognised the stench of arrogance that followed the woman around and had yet to decide if it was because she was involved somehow, or if she spoke the truth and suspected Victor of something.
‘When you said Victor rushed his work, could you give us examples?’ Kelly asked her.
Beryl didn’t reply. Instead, she marched to the door and took a coat off the hook. Rats deserting the sinking ship perhaps.
‘I’ll meet you over there, I presume you drove here?’ Beryl asked.
‘Yes, sure. We’ll see you there,’ Kelly said, nodding to Fin. It was their cue to leave. They got up and thanked Beryl for the tea and cake, which they hadn’t touched, and Kelly glanced towards the hallway, where Arthur had disappeared. They saw themselves out. As they approached the car, Kelly turned around and strained an ear.
‘Can you hear that?’ she asked Fin.
‘Full blown shitstorm?’ he asked.
Arthur and Beryl were having words.
‘I had a boss like you in Manchester,’ he said.
‘Like me?’
‘Unafraid, straight, fearless.’
Kelly pulled on her seatbelt. ‘That’s fine praise, I’m not as bold as I seem.’
‘Yes, you are. I’ve heard the rumours, and now I’ve seen it for myself.’
‘What else did you hear?’ she asked. She started the car and pulled away for the short drive to the home.
‘You don’t like praise.’
She laughed.
‘So, what did you make of them?’ she asked.
‘Both liars. Extortion at the very least. Defrauding the NHS.’
‘You’re a company man, aren’t you?’
Kelly referenced some coppers’ penchants for fact ticking, and Fin showed all the signs. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of UK criminal sentencing, which by global standards, was some of the most complicated in the world. She’d read his CV in full.
‘And you’re all justice and retribution,’ he shot back.
She started the car and Fin put on his seatbelt, proving her point.
‘I bet folk follow you anywhere,’ he said.
She pulled away. He’d said it as a compliment, and he was still looking at her when they left the Promise farmhouse. Fin was getting too close too soon, though a secret part of her wanted it. Wanted him.
He lingered long enough for her to remain lost for words, then he got back to business.
‘As for the murder, that’s where this case will drag you into the weeds. It’s the crimes of passion that get bogged down in lies. At least with money and numbers, I’m on safe ground.’
‘No feelings involved, then?’ She asked.
‘I didn’t say that. The force needs both.’
‘Do you see either of them as murderers?’
‘People never surprise me. It’s why profiling is a load of old bollocks if you ask me. Of course they could have done it. So could the lad, Dorian. So could his dad, Samuel. You’re talking about a family here who for whatever reason, and we need to find that out, hate each other, and hate is stronger than love. Victor’s death was just the final act, because he was the one who held the purse strings. Has his will been read yet?’
‘I assume his wife is the sole heir.’
‘I wouldn’t bank on it.’